“Arming everyone might save a few thousands lives a year, but lead to 3-4x as many killed accidentally.”

“When considering the effect of loosening gun laws, it would be helpful to consider the statistics about ALL the causes of death and injury by firearms. How does the number of people killed accidentally by guns compare to the number murdered by handguns? And, how does the number of self-defense cases compare to the number of accidental cases?

“I suspect that arming everyone all the time would save a few thousands lives every year. But, I suspect that would lead to about 3-4 times as many people killed accidentally.

“Ultimately, it would be a decision about acceptable risk to other people. Of course the swimming pool in your backyard is 200 times more likely to kill your child than a handgun in the house, but then again your swimming pool is not likely to kill 30 people all at once when you go off the rails.

“Good thing Plaxico Burress was armed when he went into that nightclub. His own leg could have attacked him, but fortunately he was able to put a bullet in it to stop a much greater calamity. I would hate to think what could have happened if he had not shot himself … “

I’d suggest people read the following … http://www.mwkworks.com/onsheepwolvesandsheepdogs.html “Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, “Thank God I wasn’t on one of those planes.” The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, “Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood,… Read more »

0

| ShareHide Replies ∧

Guest

Tamen

5 years 2 months ago

Yeah, but whatever your mentality is you are no good without capability and a gun is by itself not a capability. When I was conscripted (not in the US) the person who were the most gung-ho about getting a gun was the person less able to use it (and I am not talking about accuracy). He was the one who did not end up killing some of his squad members because there were only 20 rounds in his magazine. He asked and got permission to empty his clip on full automatic on an open field gun range. We normally trained… Read more »

0

| ShareHide Replies ∧

Guest

KKZ

5 years 2 months ago

Guns are relatively easy for Average Joe Taxpayer to obtain legally, within established gun control laws. Some gun advocates, including some of the commenters on the previous article, propose that if more people were armed to begin with, we wouldn’t have this kind of senseless violence. In other words, some are saying it’s for the collective good for the general civilian population to be well-armed. So why doesn’t everyone who is eligible to own a gun already have one? Obviously it’s not because they CAN’T. So the best conclusion I can arrive at is that not everyone wants to be… Read more »

0

| ShareHide Replies ∧

Guest

Soullite

5 years 2 months ago

Though, for the most part, that is correct. There’s no sense in trying to force people to own guns. Those who are deathly afraid of them aren’t going to be any better with a firearm that the those who lack he proper respect for them.

0

| ShareHide Replies ∧

Guest

Soullite

5 years 2 months ago

That’s true in rural America. It is far less true in cities. Just *try* getting a permit in NYC. On paper, you can. If you apply, you’re going to get turned down unless you’re a former cop or have connections.

0

| ShareHide Replies ∧

Guest

KKZ

5 years 2 months ago

Thanks for correcting me. I really don’t know about specifics of gun law, other than that they do vary widely from state to state. I live in Ohio but obviously have never tried to get a gun; my best friend’s boyfriend got one earlier this year and didn’t seem to have any difficulty with it, so I assume there aren’t many obstacles here.

Aren’t gun laws by state, and not by city, though? Is it that difficult in all of New York State or just in NYC?

0

| ShareHide Replies ∧

Guest

Tom B

5 years 2 months ago

This is what I should have posted a moment ago … I live in the Chicago area and work with troubles youth in a residential setting. More then 98 percent of the kids I work with are court mandated into treatment and I would comfortably say that at least 70% of those kids have pretty serious criminal records which include gang activity, armed robbery and many have had the occasion to use a gun. One of the conversations I’ve had with these kids is about gun control. I’ve asked these guys that if they thought the person they were targeting… Read more »

@Tom B- absolutely, the rash of tourist carjacking in FL during the early 90’s was coincidental to FL making it about as easy to get a carry permit as it is to get a Voter ID card; maybe easier these days. Gun Control Laws in the US arose in Racism and continue due to racism. Look at Detroit & DC and the outlying suburbs. I have lived in areas of high gun possession rates and observe that it was all a bit more polite there. That being said- I’m not in favor of arming everyone. There are 2 guys in… Read more »